Ravens fiercely defend home turf in — and even before — playoff game with uOttawa

From left, the Carleton Ravens' Phil Iloki, Wilson Birch and Kyle VanWynsberghe celebrate in the end zone during the game against Ottawa University Gee-Gees at MNP Park on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016.Ashley Fraser / Postmedia

Talk about a fierce rivalry – the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees were pushing and yelling at each other even before the opening kickoff of Saturday’s Ontario University Athletics football playoff opener at MNP Park.

On a cloudy, cool day, tempers got hot as the Ravens marched into a semifinal matchup with Western next Saturday in London with a 45-9 win over the Gee-Gees.

The Gee-Gees made way too many mistakes in a situation that demanded excellence. A botched snap on a field goal. Untimely penalties. A blocked punt. Two interceptions. A lost fumble. Two missed third-down gambles.

Give credit to the Ravens, who put a big exclamation mark on which was the better team.

“We got a bit of a jump early, the guys started playing with more confidence, we started making some plays,” said Ravens coach Steve Sumarah, whose club claimed a 43-23 decision over uOttawa in the Panda Game at TD Place stadium on Oct. 1.

On Saturday, the Gee-Gees couldn’t figure out a way to stop Carleton’s dynamic running attack. Jayde Rowe, Christian Battistelli and Marley Patterson all took turns eating up chunks of yardage. Battistelli had 131 yards on the ground, while Rowe had 125 and Patterson and 47.

But it was the near-brawl that really got the game off to an explosive start. The fireworks began after the Gee-Gees planted their flag near midfield. Bodies were flying into the fray. Gee-Gees linebacker Ricardo Lubin was ejected.

“It’s our house. We’re not thugs, but anybody that plays this sport knows if somebody tries to disrespect you in your own house, you have to show them the front door,” said Ravens all-star receiver Nate Behar.

Carleton Raven's #2 Tunde Adeleke gets the ball away to make a big play during the game against Ottawa University Gee-Gee's at Carleton's Athletic Field Saturday October 29, 2016 Ashley Fraser / PostmediaAshley Fraser/Postmedia

From left, the Carleton Ravens' Phil Iloki, Wilson Birch and Kyle VanWynsberghe celebrate in the end zone during the game against Ottawa University Gee-Gees at MNP Park on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016.Ashley Fraser/Postmedia

From left, the Carleton Ravens' Phil Iloki, Wilson Birch and Kyle VanWynsberghe celebrate in the end zone during the game against Ottawa University Gee-Gees at MNP Park on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016.Ashley Fraser/Postmedia

Carleton's Jesse Mills unloads during the game against uOttawa.Ashley Fraser/Postmedia

Gee-Gees coach Jamie Barresi said, “What I had said to the team (Friday) was I didn’t want them to be intimidated, and I think they kind of took it the wrong way. I felt I might have bottled these guys up a bit, so I tried to let the tiger out a little, but I didn’t expect that.”

“It got us all fired up, but then it’s over after the next play kind of thing,” said Sumarah.

The game was as one-sided as the score indicated.

“The biggest thing we said at the beginning of the game was you have to own the ball, you can’t give the ball up, you can’t make mistakes because they are momentum-swinging, explosion-type plays that usually go against you,” said Sumarah.

Back to the game.

After Bryce Vieira was stuffed by Stefan Carty on a third-and-one gamble from the Gee-Gees’ 48, the Ravens settled for a Mike Domagala field goal.

A botched snap and field-goal attempt wound up in a huge gain by Tunde Adeleke, who carried 56 yards to the uOttawa 40 and that led to a Jesse Mills 24-yard TD strike to Wilson Birch.

A nice run by Dexter Brown on an inside screen set up a two-yard TD run by Rowe.

The Gee-Gees made it 17-3 on a 41-yard Lewis Ward field goal after Kalem Beaver hauled in a 40-yard pass. After a Gee-Gees fumble on their 10-yard line after a missed field goal, the Ravens struck again – with Rowe easily scampering into the end zone. It was 27-3 at the half after another Domagala field goal.

On the Ravens’ first possession of the second half, Battistelli dashed into the end zone, 56 yards up the middle, untouched. Carleton got a couple of safeties, the first one on a James McCallum blocked punt.

Carleton scored again when Guillaume Caron picked off a tipped pass (with Victor Twynstra in at QB for Wendel, who left the game after taking a helmet to his elbow) and ran into the end zone. The Gee-Gees got their first touchdown with less than seven minutes left when Luke French caught a three-yard pass.

“We had early mistakes, dropped balls, it was amazing how we were able to get some momentum at certain stages and it just stopped,” said Barresi.

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